After intense rounds of singing, dancing and acting auditions, the department of performing arts has cast its actors for its fall musical, “Parade,” to be performed from Oct. 27-29 — and some in the cast are freshmen.

Freshmen Jasmine Walters and Andrew Purdy were both nervous for their first audition, especially after knowing that they would be in groups and some of their peers would witness their performance.

“This is what I do for myself at any audition: I just tell myself, ‘I’m not nervous, I’m not nervous, I got into this school for a reason.’ So I was doing a lot of that, and then I realized we have to audition in groups,” Walters said. “I went into my audition group — I was at the end of the line ­­— and I was blown away. I couldn’t believe I was going to this school.”  

Even though the group auditions made Walters and Purdy nervous, they realized they enjoyed the setting because they could see their classmates’ performances and feel their support.

The students were asked to sing a song that was similar to the music that Jason Robert Brown, music composer for “Parade,” wrote. Walters chose to sing “Back to Before” from “Ragtime,” while Purdy sang “Sarah” from “The Civil War.” He chose this song mostly because it is thematically similar to “Parade” in terms of the story. 

Shortly after their audition, Purdy and Walters were told they got callbacks. Though Purdy was not cast in the show, he was happy with how the experience went.  

“Callbacks was the most amazing day, because not only were we performing on the stage, but we got to watch all of the upperclassmen and everyone else do their callbacks, too, which was one of the most inspiring days of my life,” Purdy said. “I was super nervous because everyone was watching and this was my first audition here, but everyone was just so kind and supportive and made me feel comfortable.”

Only two freshmen got cast in the musical, and Walters was one of them. According to her, all of her classmates and all of the upperclassmen were very happy for her and congratulated her. 

“I feel like everyone is very supportive. Everyone has been coming up and telling me, ‘I remember when I was a freshman and I was in the show the first year I got here,’” Walters said. “The support system is what makes me really, really happy, and even if I hadn’t gotten in, I would’ve just appreciated all the talent I was surrounded by.”

Walters is part of the ensemble, playing Patty Hattie Davis, a married woman who begins with her own ideas, opinions and an open mind, but loses her individuality as the play develops.

According to Waters, Patty begins to hide her emotions because being outspoken would put her in danger. 

“My character just kind of goes with everyone else, even though that’s not how I would want to do it,” she said. “But because of how the musical is based, it’s completely necessary and I think it helps the story even more. This just shows that people are voiceless when they are in big groups of people and when they are told lies.” 

Walters believes that “Parade” sends an important message to its audience and encourages people to go see it. 

“I think ‘Parade’ helps you speak up even if someone is different from you — you should still respect them and you shouldn’t let that bother you. It is so important to see,” Walters said. 

Though he wasn’t cast, Purdy will be attending the show and cheering on his fellow theater majors. 

“I think that the fact that it is based on a true story makes it even more eye-opening and powerful, because it is so relatable to what is going on today, even if it happened 100 years ago,” Purdy said.